Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 15, § 3134.1 - Processing of Publications

(a) Publications. Incarcerated persons may subscribe to, purchase, or have publications sent to them such as periodicals, and books.

(b) Processing and Inspection of Incoming Periodicals. All incoming periodicals (e.g., magazines and newspapers) shall be inspected prior to issuance to ensure that they comply with sections 3006, 3134, and 3135. Items enclosed or attached to the periodical, including free CD's and packaged samples of perfume, lotion, moisturizers, stickers, etc., or any item deemed to be contraband, shall be removed; and notification to the incarcerated person of such removal is not required. No other items shall be removed from a periodical in order to issue it to an incarcerated person.

(c) Processing and Inspection of Incoming Books. All incoming soft-back and hard-back books and any enclosures within them shall be inspected prior to issuance to ensure they comply with sections 3006, 3134, and 3135. For hard-back books, staff shall allow the incarcerated person to determine whether to accept the book with the cover removed or, if that option is declined, decide how the book is to be disposed of per subsection 3191(c). If the incarcerated person chooses to accept the book, staff shall ensure the book does not violate any other departmental regulation, and then shall remove the entire cover in front of the incarcerated person. Should such removal render the book unstable, staff shall take measures to ensure the book remains intact.

(d) Notifications to the Publisher, to the Incarcerated Person, and to the Division of Adult Institutions (DAI) for Temporary Disapproval of Publication. When an incoming publication addressed to an incarcerated person violates a departmental regulation or policy, and is not included on the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications (Centralized List) pursuant to subsection 3134.1(f), the publication shall be temporarily disapproved by the institution for delivery to the incarcerated person and written notification shall be sent to the incarcerated person and the publisher. The institution shall also notify the Division of Adult Institutions, who shall determine whether to make the temporary disapproval permanent. Publications shall not be disapproved solely because they contain advertisements for products that may potentially be considered contraband or obscene. Publications shall only be disapproved if the advertisement itself or other content within the publication violates sections 3006, 3134, or 3135.

(1) Notification to the Publisher. At a minimum, the notification letter shall include the reason why the publication was temporarily disapproved, the applicable section that the publication violates, and the name and department identification number of the incarcerated person addressee. The notification letter shall be sent within 15 calendar days of the institution's receipt of the publication. Notification to the publisher is required whenever an incarcerated person is denied a publication, even if the reason for the denial is unrelated to the content of the publication. When an institution processes multiple copies of a publication that has been temporarily disapproved for delivery to multiple incarcerated persons, additional notifications to the publisher shall not be required for each incarcerated person.

(2) Notification to the Incarcerated Person. Concurrent to the letter to the publisher, when incoming or outgoing publications addressed to or being sent by an incarcerated person are temporarily disapproved, the institution shall notify the incarcerated person addressee via CDCR Form 1819 (Rev. 08/24), Notification of Disapproval for Mail/Packages/Publications, which is incorporated by reference. The CDCR Form 1819 shall include the reason for the temporary disapproval, name of official temporarily disapproving the publication, and the name of the official to whom a grievance can be directed. The CDCR Form 1819 shall be issued to the incarcerated person within 15 calendar days of the institution's receipt of the publication.

(3) Notification to the Division of Adult Institutions (DAI). The institution shall notify DAI, who shall determine whether to make the temporary disapproval permanent. The institution shall notify the DAI within 15 calendar days of the institution's receipt of the publication. The DAI shall make a decision within 30 calendar days of receiving the institution's notification. If DAI affirms the institution's disapproval of the publication, the disapproval shall become permanent. The DAI shall also determine whether the publication shall be added to the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications pursuant to subsection 3133(e).

(e) Notifications to the Publisher and to the Incarcerated Person Regarding Outcome of the DAI's Decision. When the DAI makes the decision whether to make the disapproval of a publication permanent, they shall notify the publisher and the institution of the outcome. Within 15 calendar days of receipt of the DAI's decision, the institution shall notify the incarcerated person of the outcome via an updated CDCR Form 1819 (Rev. 08/24). In the event the publication is not permanently disapproved, the institution shall deliver the publication to the incarcerated person within 15 calendar days of receipt of the decision.

(f) Centralized List of Disapproved Publications. The DAI shall maintain and make available to each institution a Centralized List of Disapproved Publications that are prohibited as contraband as defined in section 3006. Institutions shall not permanently disapprove publications or add items to the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications. When a publication is placed on the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications, the DAI shall send a letter to the publisher explaining why the publication was added to the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications. At a minimum, the letter shall include the reason why the publication was added, the applicable CCR section that the publication violates, and notice to the publisher of its right to challenge the decision per subsection 3137(c). The letter shall be sent by the DAI to the publisher within 15 calendar days of the decision to add the publication to the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications.

(1) The Centralized List of Disapproved Publications may include specific issues of a periodical (e.g., a single issue of a magazine). The list may also include all past and future issues of a periodical, but only when the Division of Adult Institutions determines that all issues of the periodical published over a period of twelve (12) consecutive months violate departmental regulations.

(2) When a publication sent to an incarcerated person is on the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications, the institution shall not deliver the publication to the incarcerated person. Within 15 calendar days of receipt of the publication at the institution, the institution shall notify the incarcerated person via CDCR Form 1819 (Rev. 08/24) that the publication is on the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications. No notification to the publisher is needed.

(3) The institution shall retain copies of all notifications and copies of supporting documents for a minimum of seven years for the following:

(A) The temporary and permanent disapproval of a publication.

(B) The addition of a publication to the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications.

(C) The disapproval of delivery of a publication to an incarcerated person already included on the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications.

(g) The disapproval of any publication, regardless of how it is sent to an incarcerated person shall be processed in accordance with this section.

Notes

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 15, § 3134.1

Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 2601 and 4570, Penal Code; Procunier v. Martinez (1974) 416 U.S. 396; and Prison Legal News v. Schwarzenegger Settlement Agreement, No. Civ-07-02058 CW and Bell v. Wolfish (1979) 441 U.S. 520.

Note: Authority cited: Section 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 2601 and 4570, Penal Code; Procunier v. Martinez (1974) 416 U.S. 396; and Bell v. Wolfish (1979) 441 U.S. 520.

1. New section filed 7-17-2008; operative 7-17-2008 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(Register 2008, No. 29).
2. Amendment of subsections (d) and (e) filed 4-30-2015; operative 4/30/2015 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2015, No. 18).
3. Amendment of subsection (d) and Note filed 10-20-2016; operative 10/20/2016 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2016, No. 43).
4. Amendment of subsections (d) and (e) filed 3-25-2020 as an emergency; operative 6/1/2020 (Register 2020, No. 13). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 11-9-2020 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
5. Emergency filed 3-25-2020 and operative 6-1-2020 extended 60 days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional 60 days pursuant to Executive Order N-66-20 (Register 2020, No. 42). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 3-9-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
6. Amendment of subsections (d) and (e) refiled 2-25-2021 as an emergency; operative 3/10/2021 (Register 2021, No. 9). Emergency expiration extended 60 days (Executive Order N-40-20) plus an additional 60 days (Executive Order N-71-20). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-8-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
7. Amendment of subsections (d) and (e) refiled 10-4-2021 as an emergency; operative 10/8/2021 pursuant to Government Code section 11346.1(d) (Register 2021, No. 41). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 1-6-2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11346.1(h) or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
8. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-4-2021 order, including amendment of CDCR Form 1819 (incorporated by reference) and further amendment of subsection (d), transmitted to OAL 12-7-2021 and filed 1-5-2022; amendments operative 1/5/2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2022, No. 1).
9. Change without regulatory effect amending section filed 7-1-2024 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2024, No. 27).
10. Amendment of section and NOTE filed 11-21-2024; operative 11/21/2024 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2024, No. 47).
11. Change without regulatory effect amending subsections (b), (c), (d)(2), (e) and (f)(2) filed 2-28-2025 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2025, No. 9).